The Pembroke Police Department will be participating in "Click It or Ticket" campaign starting Monday, May 21 and running through Sunday, June 3.

"One of the main problems we have with injury accidents is people not secured in their seat belts," said Pembroke Police Chief Bill Collins. "We just want to show a presence with enforcement."

Collins said it’s his department’s intent to educate the public on the importance of wearing their seat belts and said enforcement is secondary to that education.

"We do education with press releases and other programs," Collins said. "Then we do enforcement second."

Collins said the department, as well as others across the state participating in the "Click It or Ticket" will be strict in enforcing seat belt laws.

"We have zero tolerance for seatbelt violators," he said. "It’s important to us that we help everyone stay as safe as we can. Summer is coming up, kids are getting out of school, people are traveling and we want to make sure everyone is safe."

This latest "Click It or Ticket" campaign will focus on seat belt violators day and night. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seat belts have been proven to reduce injury to passengers by 45 to 60 percent. The statistics also show that 20 percent of drivers and passengers still do not wear seatbelts.

Collins said there will be safety checks set up throughout the city to make sure drivers and passengers are wearing their seatbelts.

He also said officers will be checking to make sure children are buckled in as well.

Officer Wynn Carney said it’s important to make sure children are buckled up properly and are in car seats in necessary.

"We’ll be checking for child restraints," he said. "A lot of people don’t know the laws for car seats and we want to make sure they do. At the checkpoints we’ll be distributing brochures to people about seat belt use and child safety seats."

The Pembroke Police Department has also been working to educate high school students on the importance of seatbelt use, through the "Fatal Vision" program, where students put on a pair of goggles show what it’s like to drive while intoxicated and have them drive a golf cart on a closed course.

Collins stressed that the seat belt campaign is to help drivers.

"We’re not out to harm anyone," Collins said. "We just want to make sure people are safe."